Hawks

There is not day that goes by that I do not see a hawk somewhere in this urban landscape. Yes, it is winter and the bare bones of the leafless trees expose anything that moves between them more easily but it’s not that I think, I just see them no matter when, no matter where, no matter the season. 

Yesterday I saw a red-tailed hawk fly across the Interstate highway, landing on a light post flaring out her beautiful signature red tail to balance her abrupt change from soaring to full-on stop.This morning on my way to the library to do a bit of writing I saw a smaller hawk (sharp-shinned I think) chasing a frantic sparrow back and forth across another busy thoroughfare - the sparrow got away. Last Fall, during my ritual morning walk on my childhood street I saw two hawks fighting/chasing one another just above my head in a maple tree, some sort of territorial dispute I suppose. 

Where I currently live is a sort of charming New Englandy looking street  (truth be told it is the only charming thing about the whole neighborhood). The condos connect above the driveways to mimic  an old fashioned carriage house entrance. While standing with my dog who was snuffling about in the shrubbery, our resident hawk came gliding through the covered entryway at eye level only to smoothly sail through the other carriage-house drive directly across the street - WWII planes flying under bridges just for the kick of it comes to mind. 

I don’t recall seeing hawks in residential neighborhoods when I was a kid, I suppose they were there but for the life of me I don’t recall it. They clearly have adapted, a few weeks back  I even saw a juvenile red-tailed hawk that was coming down to feed off a not so recent roadkill, just tufts of fur remained. Key word here may be juvenile i.e. inexperienced, in explaining this odd behavior.  

After writing this blog and doing some other writing I took a break  to go get a bite to eat, yep, you guessed it - another hawk flew right in front of my car on the way to lunch………go figure.